The Cricket Thread

[Lichtie78]

Kent batsman Jordan Cox, who scored a double ton last time out, will miss their next fixture after breaking the bio-bubble by taking a photo with a young fan

[Bully Wee Villa]

Absofuckinglutely disgraceful from the Bears. Thank f**k we can't get relegated this year.

Edited August 11, 2020 by Bully Wee Villa

[Mark Connolly]

Stuart Broad has been fined £2k and given a demerit point for swearing during the first Test against Pakistan. He was reported by the match referee who was, of course, his Dad.

Broad's response

 

[die hard doonhamer]

Crawley replaces Stokes, as expected. Curran in for Archer, which is a change I didn't expect but completely agree with. If Archer is going to bowl fast-medium, as he mostly has, he shouldn't be in the side. Curran will also help Bess in giving him some footholes to aim at.

[Savage Henry]

12 minutes ago, die hard doonhamer said:

Crawley replaces Stokes, as expected. Curran in for Archer, which is a change I didn't expect but completely agree with. If Archer is going to bowl fast-medium, as he mostly has, he shouldn't be in the side. Curran will also help Bess in giving him some footholes to aim at.

I like that a lot...

 

... What I don’t like is the weather forecast.  They’re never going to get enough play to get a result.

Edited August 13, 2020 by Savage Henry

[die hard doonhamer]

Pakistan currently 192-8, with a decent chunk of time lost to rain over the first day and a bit. Sky's coverage really excelled with the delayed start this morning, with a fascinating discussion on captaincy between Atherton, Hussain, Warne and occasional input from Holding. It was a conversation that was supposed to provide a 15 minute segment, but turned in to a 50 minute unscripted discussion. They're going to release it as a podcast and on youtube, well worth checking out.

[Mark Connolly]

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that although it's rubbish having rain delays, the content Sky produce during them, either unscripted or previous video packages, is absolutely tremendous. There is a brilliant one on just now about the psychology of bowling

ETA: it's actually about psychology in general, I obviously missed the first bit!

Edited August 14, 2020 by Mark Connolly

[peasy23]

Pakistan currently 192-8, with a decent chunk of time lost to rain over the first day and a bit. Sky's coverage really excelled with the delayed start this morning, with a fascinating discussion on captaincy between Atherton, Hussain, Warne and occasional input from Holding. It was a conversation that was supposed to provide a 15 minute segment, but turned in to a 50 minute unscripted discussion. They're going to release it as a podcast and on youtube, well worth checking out.

Complete washout today, draw looks an absolute certainty.

Elsewhere, MS Dhoni announceded his retirement from international cricket, and not long after that Suresh Raina also announced the same. Two big holes to fill for India.

[die hard doonhamer]

14 minutes ago, peasy23 said:

Complete washout today, draw looks an absolute certainty.

Elsewhere, MS Dhoni announceded his retirement from international cricket, and not long after that Suresh Raina also announced the same. Two big holes to fill for India.

To be fair, Dhoni hadn't played since the world cup, and they'd had 4 series in that time, so they'd already moved on from him, really.

[peasy23]

To be fair, Dhoni hadn't played since the world cup, and they'd had 4 series in that time, so they'd already moved on from him, really.

Can't remember who I heard on Tuffers and Vaughan a wee while back, but they were still hoping he might return to at least some form of international cricket. Tbf, I think that was largely down to him not actually announcing his retirement rather than any hints from Dhoni.

 

Very little play today, but Shaheen and Abbas had England at 7-1 when bad light initially stopped play, with rain coming on soon after. Burns the man out edging Shaheen to second slip.

 

Can they call it a draw tonight? Rain forecast to stay on for most of the afternoon.

 

[Fuctifano]

Don't think even the ghost of Hansie Cronje could force a result in this one with the forecast for tomorrow.

[peasy23]

Start delayed this morning with an inspection at 12 noon, but it's still raining at the moment. They would be as well calling it a day at 12.

[Fuctifano]

Guess they can't just have draw by mutual agreement as an option because of match fixing but trying to play anything else today is pretty pointless. 

Was surprised to see a stat about fewest overs bowled in a test in England, I assumed that back in the day there would have been a few total washouts. 

[Fuctifano]

[Savage Henry]

2 hours ago, Fuctifano said:

Guess they can't just have draw by mutual agreement as an option because of match fixing but trying to play anything else today is pretty pointless. 

Was surprised to see a stat about fewest overs bowled in a test in England, I assumed that back in the day there would have been a few total washouts. 

Yeah, they could have agreed to a draw and then played a competitive T20 or something.  But there are no paying fans, so what difference does it really make?  Crawley seems to have made himself secure for a while with this performance, I guess.

[jaggyness]

Last test not a lot to judge on but it's now clear that England have a number of options for most spots in the starting xi. There is real competition for everyone really apart from the openers, which with Burns looking like bowlers have sussed him out could be an issue, and Root, Stokes and Buttler looking like the only names that will be guaranteed to be constant over the next couple of years.

[die hard doonhamer]

1 hour ago, jaggyness said:

Last test not a lot to judge on but it's now clear that England have a number of options for most spots in the starting xi. There is real competition for everyone really apart from the openers, which with Burns looking like bowlers have sussed him out could be an issue, and Root, Stokes and Buttler looking like the only names that will be guaranteed to be constant over the next couple of years.

Even with the openers, Crawley will come in to that conversation if there is a long stretch of poor form from one of Burns and Sibley. I agree with Buttler looking like he is guaranteed his spot, but I don't like it. He's clearly an important part of the leadership team, but he needs to justify his place more with both the gloves and the bat (you can forgive mediocre keeping if he contributes big with the bat, but at the moment he is keeping poorly and contributing a good score occasionally with the bat). I'd argue that Pope looks set in his spot now as well, he has looked very good and I can't see him being dropped anytime soon.

[jaggyness]

Even with the openers, Crawley will come in to that conversation if there is a long stretch of poor form from one of Burns and Sibley. I agree with Buttler looking like he is guaranteed his spot, but I don't like it. He's clearly an important part of the leadership team, but he needs to justify his place more with both the gloves and the bat (you can forgive mediocre keeping if he contributes big with the bat, but at the moment he is keeping poorly and contributing a good score occasionally with the bat). I'd argue that Pope looks set in his spot now as well, he has looked very good and I can't see him being dropped anytime soon.

Yeah I'm not convinced by Buttler but the selectors and Root clearly like him being there. I like Pope but I just think if/when they go to India Pakistan or Sri Lanka, with Stokes being a cert to be picked he could be the one who misses out if they want to play 2 spinners. Bizarrely, given he isn't the best bowler, Stokes is the only one who I think is guaranteed to play if available.

[die hard doonhamer]

12 minutes ago, jaggyness said:

3 hours ago, die hard doonhamer said:

Even with the openers, Crawley will come in to that conversation if there is a long stretch of poor form from one of Burns and Sibley. I agree with Buttler looking like he is guaranteed his spot, but I don't like it. He's clearly an important part of the leadership team, but he needs to justify his place more with both the gloves and the bat (you can forgive mediocre keeping if he contributes big with the bat, but at the moment he is keeping poorly and contributing a good score occasionally with the bat). I'd argue that Pope looks set in his spot now as well, he has looked very good and I can't see him being dropped anytime soon.

Yeah I'm not convinced by Buttler but the selectors and Root clearly like him being there. I like Pope but I just think if/when they go to India Pakistan or Sri Lanka, with Stokes being a cert to be picked he could be the one who misses out if they want to play 2 spinners. Bizarrely, given he isn't the best bowler, Stokes is the only one who I think is guaranteed to play if available.

I disagree, I can't see them only playing 5 batsmen abroad, which is what they would be doing in that scenario. If they decide to go 2 spinners then it will be at the expense of the 4th seamer. 

Even then, my view on it would be that the cupboard is so bare when it comes to spinners, I'd stick with 1 specialist and have Root step up with the ball.

[peasy23]

Good debate last night on Tuffers and Vaughan about the bad light rules and how much time was lost during the match. Not that it was the only issue in this match, but one point raised was the insistence in England that play absolutely has to be scheduled to start at 11am, and 10.30 is only used if time is lost the day before.